Boy Scouts receive Eagle badges

Friends, family and mentors of five area high schoolers gathered Sunday evening at Trinity Fellowship Church’s upper room to recognize the boys’ attainment of the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank.

Garrison Mickna, Austin Prescott, Colton Reed, Steven Smith and Alex Tow, all 16-year-old high school sophomores and members of the Boy Scouts Troop 73 Black Dragon Patrol, received neck scarves and Eagle Scout badges after years of earning patches and a final project each of the boys had to complete to earn the Eagle rank.

Garrison’s mother and Assistant Scoutmaster Joni Mickna said she was “overflowing with joy” to see her son and his fellow scouts become Eagle Scouts.

The scouts completed camping trips, community service projects and other tasks to earn their rank, troop committee members said.

“Those of us who have camped with these boys for the last several years can verify that they have been outstanding,” Scoutmaster Randy Smith, Steven’s father, said to the crowd. “They have been out standing in the rain, out standing in the cold, out standing in the snow, out standing in the wind and out standing in the heat.”

But the troops had to do more than stand to earn their rank. With help from their families, community members and each other, each scout planned and undertook a final service project. Garrison refurbished a storage closet for Amarillo Crime Stoppers, Austin built a Ga-ga dodgeball pit for Trinity Fellowship, Colton set up a garden at Coronado Elementary School, Steven oversaw a donation drive for Goodwill Industries and Alex started a garden at Faith City Mission.

Troop committee members said their sons have been friends for a long time. Colton and Steven started scouting together in first grade, and Garrison, Austin and Alex have attended Trinity Fellowship together since they were 1-year-olds, Joni Mickna said. The boys had all joined Troop 73 by the time they were middle-schoolers, she said.

Randy Smith and Assistant Scoutmaster Gary Reed, Colton’s father, said before the ceremony that they, their fellow troop committee members and the scouts worked hard to make sure the scouts earned their Eagle badges quickly. The trappings of life for boys in their late teens can make it difficult for youths to focus on scouting, they said.

“Car fumes and perfume … that’ll kill an Eagle Scout every time,” Gary Reed said with a chuckle.

The scouts each expressed their pride and gratitude to those who helped them earn their Eagle badges, and each received pins to give to their mothers, fathers, and a mentor whom they recognized at the ceremony.